Family Update - a moment in time

The moments we cherish: Gus helps Anna build a skate ramp

On the days when life in the family is grand, I like to capture it and write a blog.  After all, we only want to remember the happy times don't we?  It's not often we publicise our difficult or disastrous or perhaps just plain boring moments.  They pass without a mention.  Perhaps that's a good subject for another blog.

Mmmm... when I wrote that first sentence above, it seemed to be all 'a-happening' in the family. Each of us was up to something and most of us were in a pretty good place.  So much so, that I was just enjoying the moment, and didn't stop to write it down. That means I am now left with the family calendar, a few photos and my pretty shocking memory to help me recall what I was going to write a blog on! 

Once the kids went back to school and we got the logistical jigsaw puzzle worked out for the afternoon activities I began enjoying a little bit of catch up time for some things that I hadn't had the chance to do over the summer.  Don't ask me what they were; a mother's tasks are usually a series of 5-10min 'jobs'; not particularly challenging or satisfying but needing to be done all the same.  The extra time and how I choose to spend it is a complete luxury at this time and season of my life. Think bike rides, dog walks, book club, boot camp, social engagements and the odd spiritual retreat. Oh, plus I forgot the handful of clients that I see each week and a recent Resilience Doughnut seminar: both of which are keeping the psychological side of my brain in tact.

Sunday School picnic at Mahairas picnic site

Dominique & Cheryl

Jessie & Hannah

Francesca, Abby and Orry

Now that my re-call is coming back; that was one busy but enjoyable time.  The Sunday School picnic, our friends from Australia visiting, plus me heading off to Manchester that evening for a week away.  In the UK, I did some resilience training in preparation for work next year and then travelled with some colleagues to the north of Holland to attend the European Brief Therapy conference and then at the end I caught up with my lovely friend Fina in Amersfoort.  Delightful!

Fina & I on those amazing cycling paths in Holland

A great week away but so happy to be back with my 
fam!

A few other recent events include....

Presenting an Open Lecture at the kids' school

Gus rides his bike to school for the first time.Eager to leave by 

6.45am to beat the bus.

Anna hides behind Sam as she refuses to go on a 

family ride....in honour of her now being able to 

ride a bike!

Sunday School class outdoors with June teaching

A few friends from Ross' work came over one Saturday night in October

Making the most of the clear autumn days...

A beautiful day for a walk in a village with my friend 

Charlotte

I do believe we are going to miss Cyprus!

The gentle art of persuasion

Cosmopolitan and chaotic Beirut

A few weeks back I did a short trip across to Beirut for various meetings, and also to pick up a visa for a planned visit to Pakistan. The process for gaining a visa for Pakistan can be challenging, and is now becoming increasingly bureaucratic. The process starts with obtaining an internal security clearance from the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (which can take up to 2 months), and then culminates in actual issuing and collection of the visa at a Pakistan consulate. As there is no Pakistan embassy in Cyprus, the designated location for Cypriot residents to collect a Pakistan entry visa is Beirut.

A quiet morning commute in Beirut!

I've been through this process a number of times over recent years, and have always been able to show up at the Pakistan Consulate in Beirut, and wait while the visa was processed and issued on the same day. Alas this was not the case a few weeks ago. I turned up at the consulate, passed through the security gauntlet of numerous chain-smoking and heavily armed Lebanese Army soldiers in the building's basement and then headed to the 8th floor, cleared more armed soldiers and security before finally entering the consulate, only to be told that I could drop my passport off but that the passport and visa would not be ready for collection for atleast 1 week. Not so helpful when I was scheduled to fly back to Cyprus the following evening, and due to fly to Pakistan on Sunday. So what to do? Negotiating bureaucracy in an embassy is not always easy, especially when the said location is a little disorganised (to put it politely......organised chaos would be a more apt description)! I took a deep breath, and asked whether I could meet with the diplomat in charge. Thankfully I was offered a chance to do this some half an hour later, and so proceeded to explain my situation and also to outline the credentials of our ongoing work in Pakistan. He was gracious and heard me out, and said that on this one occasion they could make an exception and fastrack the issuing of the visa, but that I would still need to return the next day to collect it (which would involve once again running the gauntlet of Beirut traffic). So I returned the next day, successfully collected the visa and was on my way back to Cyprus that evening (somewhat relieved at not having to sit in Beirut for a another week awaiting my passport)!

Gridlock in the Beirut traffic

20 years in BiH

Celebrating 20 years with some youth from BiH

Earlier this month I traveled to Sarajevo to join with staff, partners, donors and Government representatives in celebrating 20 years of World Vision's work in Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH). It was a fitting celebration, noteworthy for the large number of youth who were present and who spoke at the ceremony. Since commencing in 1993 during the war, World Vision's emergency relief and development activities in BiH have directly or indirectly impacted more than one third of the country's population, so this is a significant legacy.

After the end of the war, the focus of WV's activities in BiH shifted from reconstruction to long term development.  However in May 2014, BiH experienced catastrophic flooding (the worst to hit the country for over 100 years), and WV once again was engaged in the rapid scale up and implementation of large scale emergency response activities across the country. Issues of chronic flooding in BiH were compounded by another 'hidden' issue, namely that the floods had the disastrous effect of dislodging many of the more than 1 million landmines that remain across the country in uncleared areas. Consequently many areas that had been demined since the war are now at potential risk again.  Tragically there have been several incidents across the country since the flooding, where children or adults have been injured or killed in landmine accidents. 

The aftermath of flooding in May

On the recent visit we were able to visit some of the worst impacted areas from the flooding almost 6 months ago. It was staggering to see just how high the floodwaters rose, and also the extensive damage caused by the flooding. There is now a race against time in many communities across the country to try and repair damaged housing in time for the rapidly approaching winter.

Some of our WV regional team, Jasenko and Hrvoje

Scaling up in Kurdistan, Iraq

World Vision recently commenced operations in Kurdistan, Iraq.  This 
was a distribution last week in Dahuk, a city that is currently 
overwhelmed hosting around 450,000 people who have been 
displaced by the recent fighting in the country.  Most families were 
forced to flee with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

The conflict in Syria is about to enter its fourth year. It has already claimed more than 100,000 lives, at least 10,000 of whom are confirmed to be children.  It has also forced approximately 9 million people to flee their homes and 2.5 million people to take refuge in neighbouring countries. The scale of humanitarian catastrophe is hard to comprehend, and the recent rapid escalation of events with the rise of the Islamic State group are further compounding the ongoing human tragedy. Even the more radical scenario forecasts just a few months ago failed to predict anything close to the current state of affairs, and as foreign powers increasingly become engaged it is likely that the situation will deteriorate further before any improvement. As someone once pessimistically said to me, "when you live in Cyprus you have a front row seat to watch the end of the world." 

Experts warn that if the immediate needs for education, psycho-social support and protection are not met for the 5.5 million children currently living in desperate conditions in Syria and neighbouring countries, a whole generation may be lost and the effects of this conflict will continue to ripple within Syria and the region for decades to come.

World Vision has been responding to the needs of children and families affected by the Syria crisis since 2011, and emergency operations have been significantly ramped up over the past 18 months. There are now large scale response programs underway in Northern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and most recently in Kurdistan Iraq. This scale up has been a major logistical exercise that has not been without its challenges. Organisational capacity and resources have been stretched, but good work is being done despite the complexity of the operating context. Planning and preparing for various scenarios is a major challenge, given the volatility of the current situation. 

Aside from the staffing, planning and resource requirements of an effective response to the Syria crisis, a related challenge for WV is that we have also been responding to other concurrent humanitarian crises in several other countries in the region including the recent Gaza conflict and catastrophic flooding in both Pakistan and Bosnia/Hercegovina.

If you are praying person, please pray for peace in Syria and Iraq, and also for the many challenges that are impacting the broader region.  Click here or see below for a short clip that was done by our communications team in Lebanon, and captures well the simplicity of hope among children, even in the midst of current adversity.

A recent emergency food distribution in Gaza

World Vision provides psychosocial support and a
chance to play for displaced children in Gaza.